In the Name of Comfort
by miamental
Summary: Catching up at a Weasley family dinner was easy, but what happens once they leave the realm of small talk?
1. Chapter 1

In the Name of Comfort

She was still nervous. 10 years spent with and around this family and she was still nervous.

Nervous that they would one day tell her to go home, that as nice as it had been, there wasn't really a place for her here. Which she knew was a disservice to the Weasleys – they loved her, were nothing if not hospitable and would probably whack her over the head if they knew what she was thinking. Ron and Ginny had been her friends for years, she helped George with the operational aspects of running the shop, she worked with Percy at the ministry, she was tutoring Arthur in muggle studies to curtail his interest in a healthy direction, there wasn't really a way for her to be more involved. Still, looking up at the Burrow as she walked towards the house the feeling of inadequacy lingered.

There were definite advantages to being a muggleborn in the wizarding world, be it different viewpoints on certain customs or knowing how to use a pen instead of a quill, but most of the time she felt like she'd spent her entire life in magical Britain waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for someone to jump out and tell her it was all a joke, that she couldn't be here and had to go back home, to a normal life. Trying to shake the feeling off, she knocked on the door and attempted to steel herself for what was bound to be a loud and wonderful evening. How could she refuse an owl from Molly that said that she missed her children, all her children, and wanted to have everyone over for Sunday dinner?

Ginny opened the door and immediately pulled her into a hug as she heard shouts of "hey, Mione!" from the various Weasley siblings in the kitchen and living room.

"It's good to see you, Ginny. I've just realized that I've been ignoring you all for a couple weeks as I fell down the work vortex again, so I'm sorry for that. It's really lovely to see all of you and have a proper home cooked meal!"

"It's good to see you too, Hermione! And don't worry, we all tend to be quite involved with our jobs - you would hardly be the first one to lose track of time. Plus, you've seen Harry at work. I swear he never even remembers what day of the week it is," Ginny sighed.

"Isn't that the truth, that man will work himself into the ground one of these days. Maybe we should convince Molly to send out a few more owls to get him out of the house a bit? Or I could take him to Muggle London once a week or something."

"Mione, that's a fantastic idea! Mum will send out owls regardless but I think a few trips to Muggle London will definitely cheer him up and get him away from his desk," Ginny exclaimed. "Thanks for thinking about his well-being all these years, it really means a lot to me, not just to him."

"I'm told that's what siblings are for," Hermione replied laughing.

Walking through the house she greeted George and Angelina, promising to come by the shop and have a look at their newest invention, and said hello to Percy and his girlfriend Audrey before walking into the kitchen and being wrapped up in a hug from Molly and Arthur.

"Hello dear, it's nice to see you again. You're doing well, I hope?"

"Of course, Molly, and thank you for inviting me. I'm quite excited to see what you've got cooked up for tonight, I'm starving!"

Molly turned to everyone who had ambled into the kitchen and shouted, "you heard the lady, get a move on! George, could you please grab two chickens from outside? And Percy and Audrey, would you mind getting started on peeling the potatoes and carrots? Harry and Ron, the apples will be your responsibility, peel and slice them please. Ginny and Lavender, your job is setting the table. For fourteen please! Now get to it!" Changing tactics, the Weasley matriarch turned back to her and asked if she could take a mug of tea to Charlie that he'd asked for earlier and that she'd embarrassingly forgotten about.

"Of course, Molly, I've been meaning to go over and say hello anyways."

As everyone scattered to work on the various tasks that Molly assigned in preparation for dinner, she took the mug of tea that Molly had offered the both of them and wandered over to Charlie.

"Hey Charlie, how are things?"

Charlie smiled at her as she handed over the mug and quickly took a few sips. "I'm doing well Hermione, thanks for asking. I feel as though we haven't caught up in a few visits, it's nice to see you."

"You too Charlie, sorry for the part I played in being distant. I don't always manage to handle my professional and personal lives very well so my anxiety and stress spill from one to the other and make me withdraw from most social interactions."

"No need to apologize, you'd hardly be the first one to do that," he responded.

"In any case, thanks for understanding. How are things at the reserve going?"

"Apart from the dragons, it really does run like most workplaces do. We've had a couple new trainees transfer from America and they've really been testing us and not making for a particularly great working environment recently," Charlie sighed.

"How so? Have there been incidents with the dragons that caused problems?"

"Oh no, nothing like that. Nothing more than normal, that is. The trainees are just very hotheaded – think they know how to do things better than established procedures tell them to, don't really want to listen to any of the older wranglers, aren't particularly safe around the dragons or other workers. It's frustrating because the job's dangerous and stressful enough as it is. Most of what we do requires working as a team; even if you have a dragon you're tending to individually, there's always other keepers around as back-up, people that you need to trust implicitly to be able to handle the situation. So, having trainees around that you need to keep an eye on really isn't helpful."

Hermione stared at him wide-eyed, "Merlin, I can imagine. If you can share such information with me, is there anything being done about them?"

"Well, two of the keepers they're clashing with are my direct superior and I so we went to the head of the reserve and suggested that they undergo more classes and hands on training before they're allowed to work individually."

She smirked, "I'm assuming they didn't take that particularly well?"

"No, not particularly. Though I could not care less how they took the news, they're lucky to not be thrown out of the reserve for that kind of behaviour," Charlie responded, laughing. "What have you been up to recently?"

"Well, I've been trying to drum up support for an organization of mine, S.P.E.W, but I have to admit it's not going particularly well."

"Sorry, spew?"

"No, S.P.E.W., the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. It originally started when we were at the last Quidditch World Cup and ran into Barty Crouch Sr. and his house elf in the minister's box. You could tell even from a distance that she was terrified of heights but he made her sit up there and save his seat, it was horrible! I started reading up on them and just couldn't believe how they were treated. Add to that our interactions with Dobby and Kreacher and I just can't help but want to free them and give them better lives. At the very least there should be some mandated working conditions for them that would prevent outright abuse."

"Although some of your aims seem a bit misdirected and barring a definite name change, I really think it's quite admirable that you care so deeply for a creature that other wizards easily frown upon. It really speaks to who you are as a person."

"Misdirected? Charlie, how can you say my aims are misdirected? Haven't you seen how house elves are being treated?"

"Hermione, I don't mean to offend, but what you must realize is that house elves are not human. Now I'm not saying that they should be treated horribly as a result of that, but calling them anything other than what they are and trying to apply muggle or wizard laws and culture to their situation is a disservice to them. They are magical creatures, ones with their own magic, their own culture, traditions, and family structure. Your interactions with Dobby and Kreacher are not indicative of the general house elf population – those two lived in remarkable situations, with two of the darkest families known to the wizarding world, and although one desperately wanted freedom, that is not indicative of all other house elves. Have you met or spoken to elves about what they would want? Don't presume to know what's best for them just because working to prevent the horrors of slavery is an ingrained aspect of most muggle and wizarding cultures. Servitude is an ingrained aspect of elfish culture and campaigning to free all elves is not ideal because they don't understand why you would force destitution on them and turn them into social outcasts. I know you're serious about your work and I admire how much you care for these creatures. So, go out and talk to them. See what they need or are looking for in their lives. Once you have a better understanding of their culture, I think you'll have no trouble in drafting a bill that really helps them and helps you convince wizards to help them as well. For whatever it's worth, I'd support a bill like that in a heartbeat. We need more people who care about something and someone apart from themselves."

"I hadn't… I hadn't talked to any elves. And, uh, I should have. Thank you, Charlie. I tend to have to fight so hard to be heard and have my work acknowledged by the wizarding community that it's a bit of a new experience for me to have you speak reasonably on a proposal of mine and show me areas that I can improve. And I promise to take your advice to heart and rethink how I look at the situation."

"Not a problem, love, glad to be of help," Charlie grinned at her. "Come on, let's go grab a seat - mum's been sending me not so subtle hints to help with dinner the entire time we've been talking."

"Food sounds fantastic, actually. I'm starving and Molly's cooking is always phenomenal."

As they carried out dishes filled with steaming vegetables to go with the main of roast chicken to the garden, she took a seat next to Arthur and looked around to see Charlie slipping into a seat on her other side. Giving him a small smile, she turned back to Arthur ready to field whatever muggle related questions he might have – the man really was incorrigible and ever since he started reaching out more to her after the war as a way to move past the grief of losing a son, she'd found that she loved being able to offer him some small measure of distraction and comfort.

"Alright Arthur, any questions for me today?"

"Certainly, Hermione, certainly. You've explained to me what airplanes are before but I find that I'm still wondering how flight travel works in the muggle world. Would you be able to explain, in broad terms?"

Chuckling, she started on an explanation of airports, passports, security, flight control, and anything else she could think of regarding travel. "You see, Arthur, the majority of larger cities in the muggle world have something called an airport. An airport is a rather large expanse of land with paved roads circling it and a central building that serves as a hub for travellers. These paved roads allow airplanes to land safely while the central building has a large tower nearby that allows workers to communicate with airplanes and make sure that everything runs smoothly. Not every airport will connect you directly to where you want to go so most travellers use these central buildings to transfer from one plane to another. Workers help an airplane stop near the building, help everyone and their luggage off the plane and then clean and refuel it so it's ready to go somewhere else. Everyone in the muggle world who wants to travel outside their country requires something called a passport. It's a little booklet issued by the government that has your name, date of birth, and photo which is checked by workers at the airport to make sure that you are who you say you are. Does that make sense?"

"Somewhat… but I'm finding it really hard to picture, to tell you the truth," Arthur said sceptically.

"Well, how about I take you to Heathrow Airport one of these days as a sort of field trip to let you see some of this up close?"

"Oh, that would be quite an adventure indeed! How exciting!" Arthur looked like Christmas had come early at the prospect of seeing an airport up close and both Hermione and Charlie laughed at the sight.

"My problem has always been with the security lanes," Charlie said, "I can never remember what you're allowed to have and what you have to take off before they let you through. It never fails to be a nightmare and makes me feel like a complete dunce."

Arthur's face switched back to one of confusion as he inquired after what a security was and she found she needed to take a minute to try to formulate an explanation he could understand. "The muggle world has had it's share of problems and some of the more evil people in our history have found that a very effective method of murder is to put explosives on airplanes. To prevent another such catastrophe, the muggle equivalent of aurors require everyone travelling on an airplane to be examined before they board the plane. To make sure that no one is carrying anything on them or in their luggage that could harm another passenger."

"Goodness, even some of my enthusiasm has waned in the face of such horrifying history. I hope that whatever these muggle aurors are doing helps to prevent anything like that from happening again. Please send me an owl when you'd like to go and visit this Heathrow," Arthur said.

"Of course, Arthur!" Dinner raged around them with plans being made for pick-up quidditch when everyone was done eating, conversations flowing about work, Fleur's pregnancy, Ginny's performance this season, the shop, and others she was too far down the table to follow. It wasn't until people started putting their forks down after heaping slices of apple pie and getting up to grab brooms that she felt Charlie take hold of her elbow to grab her attention.

"Would you like to take a walk with me? I'm not feeling particularly up for quidditch at the moment and if I don't get out of dodge soon, I'll be dragged back to attempt to put Ginny in her place."

"Sure Charlie, I'll help you escape that fate. Besides, no one can catch Ginny now, it's a useless endeavour." Trying to carry as many things as they could, they caught Molly on the way back to the house, thanking her profusely for the food and letting her know where they were off to assuage any worries.

"Have fun dears, just don't come back too late!"

The pond at the back of the property seemed as good a destination as any so they headed that way as the shrieking sounds of the game in the backyard started to fade into the background.

"Charlie, have you flown a lot the muggle way? As much as I appreciate Arthur's interest, I didn't know that you or any of your siblings knew the first thing about being in the muggle world."

"Don't sound so surprised, Hermione, your experiences with Ron might be tainting your view of the rest of us a bit. He's never shown a particular interest in the subject but I followed dad around that blasted shed of his for decades. It was hard not to cultivate a proper interest after that. I took muggle studies at Hogwarts but most of my knowledge comes from a lot of books and muggleborn friends who took pity on me and showed me the basic ins and outs of their world. Travel by airplane is sometimes easier than international portkeys – they are a pain to get, especially if you need one short notice and bloody expensive at that. Why bother with those when I can just hop on a couple hour flight to London instead?"

She gaped at him for a minute before having the presence of mind to respond. "Fair enough. I should really remember to think before I speak. That and start paying you a thank you stipend for calling me out on my shite," she said laughing.

"I'm sure I have enough of my own shite for you to call me on," Charlie responded, laughing.

"Based on our conversations today, I somehow doubt that," she said with a tilt of the head.

"Ah, I'm just older. My shit tendencies have mellowed over the years. You should have seen me straight out of school, I was absolutely full of it." They walked a bit further on without talking until she saw Charlie glance at her and take a deep breath.

"Hermione, if you don't mind my asking, what happened between you and Ron? I don't mean to imply that I don't like Lavender or am trying to pry into your personal life, I'm really just curious. I'm away so much that I tend to miss a lot of the significant events in people's lives here."

"Oh, I don't mind you asking, nothing significant happened that is worth keeping secret. The truth is that we just realized we're rather different people. Immediately after the war, Ron was an incredible help to me, he was at my side through both the physical and mental recovery of what we had endured and through the grief of what had happened around us. I will be forever grateful for that support. But months later when it was time to return to day to day life and everything that comes with it, we realized that we want and love different things. He loves family and company and noise, and I was an only child who enjoys quiet and solitude. He loves quidditch, wants to play, follow teams, and share that passion with someone – it's not exactly an individual sport. I love to spend my evenings reading as much as I can and listening to music. I have an entire muggle heritage that he just doesn't understand. It's not fair to either one of us to force something that makes us put aside so many parts of ourselves, you know?"

"I feel like I do, yeah."

"In that case, I'm sorry your relationship didn't last."

"Ah, don't be, Hermione, it's long over. Working with dragons sounds really cool to most people on paper but the reality is that you're spending your days working long hours trying to fight people to understand and care for generally misunderstood creatures. I do it because I love the work but for someone who doesn't share my passion, it becomes rather like your situation with quidditch." He looked a little sad before stopping suddenly and turning to her. "Wait a moment, did you say that you were an only child? Are you not one anymore?"

When she didn't answer and walked on in silence, he jogged a couple steps to catch up to her and stopped them both. "Are you alright? I didn't mean to broach a difficult subject and I won't bring it up again if that's what you'd like."

She really had to get a grip on herself. "No Charlie, I'm sorry. It was really rude of me to just keep walking without talking to you. It is a difficult subject for me but it will only become worse if I never talk about it. Before Harry, Ron, and I embarked on the horcrux quest in our seventh year I was so worried about leaving my parents that I decided to modify their memories so that they wouldn't know they had a daughter and moved them to Australia. I sold their house and erased all the traces of myself so that no one would be able to hurt them because of me. After the war I took a trip to Perth to try to track them down – I had hoped to reverse the memory modification but when I did finally reach them, I just couldn't do it. They were so happy, Charlie. They had a lovely home, a dental practice, I could see my mum working in her garden, and I just couldn't do it. Ruin that happiness and throw them back into a world of uncertainty and pain just so that I could visit them every couple of weeks? I'm not really a part of that world anymore and they are not a part of this one, it wouldn't be fair. I know I played God in modifying their memories in the first place but I didn't have the strength to do it again for my own benefit."

He stood and stared at her for a moment before putting an arm around her waist and pulling her in for a hug. "Merlin, Hermione," Charlie whispered in her ear, "the sheer amount of sacrifice you gave for the good of our world will never cease to shock me." A few minutes later they separated slowly, each keeping a bit of a hold on the other. "I'm sorry that you went through such a thing but at the same time I'm glad that your parents are alright. And yes, I think you reversing the memory charm, if you even could, would be cruel. If you ever need someone to talk, please don't hesitate to come find me, you shouldn't be dealing with this alone."

"Thanks, Charlie," she said softly. "It means the world to me to have Harry and all the rest of you so willing to accept me into your family and help me out. It'd be a rather lonely existence otherwise."

"Well, what kind of people would we be if we didn't? Besides, all the Weasley kids are strays in their own way, it's easy to spot another and grab them into the mix," Charlie said matter-of-factly.

"How was growing up here? I'm sorry to ask such a personal question but I just can't imagine it – my house had three people in it for most of my life, it's alien to me to be around so much noise and commotion. I had a really hard time adjusting to Hogwarts, to be honest."

"It was… it was hard, to be completely honest with you. There were so many of us and mum and dad were always so distracted that it felt like we all fell by the wayside individually. Bill and I spent a lot of our time taking care of the younger ones and it left little room for free time and enjoyment. I completely understood why he fucked off to Egypt right after Hogwarts, we were both desperate to be alone and grow as individuals - make a name for ourselves and all that. I love my life in Romania but I do feel guilty about not being here to help out and just be around," Charlie sighed.

"You all put in so much effort to band together after the war that I don't think you need to feel guilty anymore, Charlie. As I am slowly learning, not everything is in our control and all we can do is try our best," she replied with a smile. "At least that's what my therapist tells me."

He looked at her for so long that she started wondering if she had something on her face. "Charlie? You're staring. Do I have something on my face?"

"No, no, of course not! Just had a few thoughts clouding my brain, that's all," he exclaimed. "I promise I'm still with you."

"Dare I ask what kind of thoughts?"

"I was just thinking about how although we've talked many times before, I've never felt as invested as I do today; we have a lot in common in terms of outlook on life and personality, and it's a crime it's taken me this long to notice. Not just that, but I realized I don't really have any relationship with the various significant others my siblings have amassed. It was making me wonder whether I was at all emotionally present during my visits here for the past couple of years, and I feel rather embarrassed."

"You might laugh and say that we're even more alike than you thought, but I feel the same way. I realized as I was walking up to the door today that I've been acting incredibly self-centered. I work with Percy almost every day and I'm ashamed to say that I don't have a relationship with Audrey. Ditto for Angelina and Lavender. We're friendly to be sure, but is that really enough post-war? Harry, Ron, and I spent our Hogwarts years in kind of a bubble, but that's not really the case anymore. I should spend more time being around the people I love and I need to work on that," she responded thoughtfully.

"I really enjoy talking to you, Hermione, I felt I should reiterate that. It takes an incredible person to recognize their own faults and try to work on them, you should be proud, "Charlie said rather seriously.

"I don't feel very proud, mostly just fucked up. But I really enjoy talking to you too, Charlie," she responded blushing. She could invite him somewhere to keep the night going, her treacherous mind told her - it had been so long since she had felt a connection to someone. It wasn't even about attraction, it was about the loneliness, the emptiness that sometimes engulfed her. If she had read the situation right, maybe he could also use a comforting presence. "I know this is right on the heels of us talking about how we should be more involved, but… any chance you'd like to come back to my place for a drink?"

Charlie grinned at her and she felt elated. "Yeah Mione, I'd love to. I sincerely hope you have some good booze, I've gotten picky in my old age."

"I'd hardly call you old, Charlie. Should we go back and tell everyone where we're off to? They're bound to worry, especially your mum."

"We can start being more present tomorrow, right now I've got alcohol to imbibe with a pretty girl at my side. Lead the way, love."

Staring at him smiling at her and squeezing his hand in hers, she turned in mid air and thought of home.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's a lovely flat you've got here, Hermione," Charlie told her after they'd landed in her living room and he'd had a bit of a look around. "I knew you were likely to have a lot of bookcases and the art on the walls fits into your space brilliantly but what I'm really interested in is the not insignificant collection of whisky you've got here. Who knew you had such a well stocked bar?"

Hermione grinned at him. "It's nice to share that interest with someone – most people don't look too far below the label of bookworm when they meet me and so don't know where my passions lie. One of those passions is whisky and tonight you are going to reap the benefits. Go ahead and take a look, I have bottles from all over the world, I'm going to go put my things away."

Leaving him by her bar, she walked to her bedroom quickly and took a few deep breaths once she closed the doors. Inviting him over had been one thing but having Charlie actually in her flat was quite another. How were you supposed to act around a close friend who you may or may not have crossed a line with by inviting them over? Best stick to conversation, she told herself, they were good at conversation.

"Alright Charlie, what will it be? Scotch, Irish whiskey, bourbon, rye whisky? Do you have any particular favourites?"

"You have so many choices it's a little hard to wrap my head around what I want," he told her distractedly. "My mates and I once went to Taiwan to investigate reports of a dragon egg that was found there – it was supposed to be shipped to our reserve once we located it and while we were there, we hit up Kavalan distillery on recommendation from one of the locals. Their whisky was unlike anything I had ever tried before and it sparked my interest, as it were. That being said, I'd like to try something new today. Perhaps a bottle of bourbon, I've not tried most of the ones you have here today."

"Brilliant! Let's go with one of my personal favourites, George T. Stagg. It's from one of the biggest distilleries in America and it has a flavour profile like nothing you've ever tasted. One dram or two to start?"

"Two, if you don't mind," he said leaning in to whisper "nothing fun ever happened with one dram."

Laughing she turned and headed to the couch to settle down. "Please, make yourself comfortable. And let me know if there's anything I can get you."

"I'm good, thanks Mione. So, what are some of your other passions? You've mentioned whisky, art, and books, of course, but I'm sure there are more."

There's a lot of things that hold my interest but not as many that I'm outright passionate about. Whisky is by far the biggest one but I also quite enjoy football and magical theory. Whenever I mention the last one people usually have a very vivid of Percy at Hogwarts and write me off completely but the theory of the magical world is fascinating! Just think of all the spells that could still be invented and the areas of magic uncovered if we understood more about how magic operated!"

"Hermione, only people who are quite young and immature make fun of someone for wanting to learn more about the world. What shocks me more is your passion for football – I've heard from so many people how uninterested in quidditch you are that I had written off from being interested in sports in general and I'm sorry for that," Charlie said, shame tinting his tone.

"Thanks for apologizing, Charlie. That's one of the most frustrating parts of being in the magical world, actually, the thought process that there's nothing else available once you step outside the commonly accepted activities. I didn't initially like quidditch because I'm terrified of heights but after everyone made such a fuss and was rather rude, I swore not to like it on principle. That resolve has mellowed in the years since I left school because I wanted to support Ginny and she's so bloody enthusiastic about the sport but I have always preferred football. My dad was a diehard Manchester City supporter so it's in my blood," she said with pride.

He looked at her with that deep stare again before shaking his head and saying, "Well, I'd love to go to a match with you sometime, if you don't mind dragging me along. I've only ever seen football on the telly, it must be a hell of an experience to go to a game, much like quidditch in that sense."

"Sure! I wouldn't mind at all. It would be so much fun to go to a game again, it's been too long."

"I can see what you meant about being typecast – if I were to base my knowledge of you only on what other people say, I'd have missed a significant part of your personality and that would have been a shame," Charlie said thoughtfully.

Laughing she replied, "You don't say, mr. dashing dragon keeper who could have been a quidditch star. I can't imagine running into that problem, at all."

"Don't remind me of that ridiculous moniker, it's gotten me into trouble on more than once occasion. I took a bloke home once and promptly had to kick him back out when I realized that he was more interested in spouting off bigoted bullshit about my feminine interests than getting on with the evening. Good riddance, but still."

She choked on the sip of whisky she had been taking. "Sorry, he did what?"

"Some of my passions besides dragon keeping include knitting, baking, and herbology. So, when we got back to mine and he saw the aprons, knitting supplies and the such he said some bullshit about how he didn't realize he was going home with a woman. Kicked his sorry ass to the curb, the bigot."

It was her to stare at him for a moment. "Merlin, the sheer stupidity of some people. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that you had to deal with that, it couldn't have been easy. His loss for not being around to experience all you have to offer. If you don't mind my asking, have you always known you were bisexual or was it a more recent discovery?"

"Nah, I've known since Hogwarts. Was with a bloke in fifth year but it ended rather poorly – when Tonks and I got together a few months later he called me out for being a poof and a liar in the middle of breakfast in the Great Hall. Before I could even say anything, Tonks gave him such an earful, I thought his head was going to blow off. Got a week's detention for it, but goddamn was it amazing to witness," he said chuckling. "Dumbledore even came by to tell her he was proud of her afterwards."

"Wow," she said laughing. "Tonks had mentioned before that you and she had seen a lot of each other at Hogwarts but I hadn't realized it was so explosive. Did you stay together long?"

"Up until graduation. We loved each other but our careers were going in such different directions that we agreed to break up so as to spare each other the heartbreak of growing further and further apart. That way we parted on nothing but good terms and fantastic memories. It wasn't a bad thought but we were young and dumb and didn't really realize that we could have a relationship while still being apart if we wanted one enough."

She thought about her memories of Tonks and realized that as much as she was hurting for Teddy and wished she could have known Tonks a little better, Charlie must feel absolutely gutted.

"You must really miss her," she said gently.

"So, so much," he replied getting choked up. "She was part of all of my memories of Hogwarts, a daily part of seven years of my life. No small part of me gets angry every time she's mentioned nowadays because no one, save Bill, thinks about how much she meant to me. It's a shame that Teddy won't grow up with a mum and that she and Remus didn't have much time but Merlin do I just want my friend back and be back in the middle of our happiest days."

"When Teddy gets older, you should tell him about her. Like you said, there's no better source than someone who grew up with her and loved her as you do. And I'm sure that he'll appreciate that more than the scores of wizards and witches and who will place the burden of her heroism on his shoulders."

He looked at her with a grateful smile, "I'll try to do that, thanks Granger. Come on, time to try another whisky. We've been sitting her without a dram for too long. What about a rye whisky next? I've not had one of those either."

"Sounds great, I think you'll really like Michters. It's less well known than the previous one but still quite lovely and smooth. Do you mind if I put on some music? I always think rooms are too empty without any music to fill the space."

"Not as long as you don't mind joining me in a dance," Charlie said extending a hand.

"Uh, no. No, I wouldn't mind that at all. I didn't know you danced, Charlie Weasley, but it's quite lovely that you do."

"Mum taught me the basics," he said as he pulled her into a simple box step and twirled her around, "my own interest took over after that. Besides, it doesn't hurt when trying to woo a beautiful woman."

He pulled her in a bit closer as they turned again and again and she couldn't help but swoon, just a little bit. She loved to dance and the fact that there was a very solid someone leading her around the room in time to the music didn't hurt matters one bit.

"I'm curious, Hermione. What's your least favourite part of the wizarding world? You have an innate ability to see things from different perspectives so I'm curious what one of the pitfalls of our society would be."

"That's an easy answer, I've been ranting about this for years. No one in the wizarding world uses pens, it's absolutely infuriating. What kind of writing implement is a quill? The ink never dries fast enough if you write quickly, inkwells constantly tip over, you can never write anything down in a hurry because it takes time to set up the whole system, ridiculous."

Charlie let out a fully belly laugh at her speech. "Fair enough, love. You know, you should take your concerns over to McGonagall. As the new headmistress she has final say over what goes onto the shopping lists for the start of every year – perhaps you can convince her to stop making quills and parchment a requirement and let, or insist, that pens and notebooks be part of the list as well."

"That's a really good idea, Charlie, thanks!"

He grinned at her still chuckling. "I'm full of nothing but good ideas."

"Is that so?" she asked skeptically. "What do you have in mind for how we continue the evening?"

"We should play truth or dare."

She stared at him in shock. "Charlie, you've got to be kidding me. That's mostly a muggle party trick, not a game to play between two adults trying to get to know each other better."

"I absolutely disagree. I have a funny feeling that the game will just devolve into us exchanging truths anyways but to make it more fun, we could include a caveat that one of us has to take a shot if we refuse to answer a truth or complete a dare. Up the stakes, as it were. Besides, I'm dying to see your more salacious side."

He was completely serious. And right. It probably was a great game for them to play. And this evening really needed a way to move forward and she certainly didn't have to courage to push it there on her own.

"Alright, let's do it. You go sit down, I'm going to grab some vodka so I don't have to waste good whisky on your ridiculous ideas."

"Sounds good to me, love. I'll be waiting right here." Heading to the freezer to fish out the vodka she poured herself a shot of liquid courage and took it early, needing it to face the absolute insanity of what they were about to start. Charlie wanted salacious, so she would give him salacious. All the signs pointed to him being interested and it had been a while for her, so why not? They could re-evaluate everything else afterwards.

Setting the bottle and two shot glasses down on the table, she asked, "truth or dare, Charlie?"

"Truth to start, I think," he replied shrugging.

"Do you have any body modifications like tattoos or piercings? I know it's not very common in wizarding culture but it is in the muggle world and since you're invested in both, I was curious to know the answer."

"Genuinely interesting question, Hermione, well done. I have a tattoo of a Hebridean black across my chest and torso, stretches from my clavicle down to my hip. It was the first dragon I'd ever worked with at the reserve in Romania and the experience was like a reaffirmation of my career choices so I went to a muggle tattoo studio and got it done. Painful as all fuck it was, took three sessions to finish." Here he grinned at her and tugging at the hem of his shirt said, "if you'd like to see it, all you have to do is ask."

She blushed immediately but continued looking him in the eyes. "Your turn, Weasley."

"Alright, alright. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," she said. After all, she wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing – playing truth or dare with a handsome Weasley in her flat was hardly the worst thing she'd had to do.

Her plan seemed to be working as he looked quite surprised before his expression melted into a grin. "I dare you to take off one piece of clothing. I know, I know, it's not a very original dare but I have a vested interest in the outcome so you'll have to forgive me."

She levelled him with a look before reaching behind her, unclasping her bra, and taking it out from under her shirt. Dangling it on one finger she looked Charlie in the eyes and smirked.

"Fuck, Granger. I'll admit, I didn't think you had it in you but I will not underestimate you again. Nice move."

"Truth or dare, Charlie."

"Truth."

Really. That was interesting, she had thought he'd immediately try to escalate the situation. "Alright, what's your favourite thing to do in bed?

"I think I'll need a shot to help with that one, pass over the bottle. My favourite thing is to go down on a woman, there's really nothing like it. Another one of those apparently too feminine things I've been ribbed for before, but I don't care. It's fucking magnificent. Truth or dare, Hermione?"

"Truth, I think."

"Was my brother good in bed?"

She flushed crimson. "Charlie, for fuck's sake! Isn't that question one of those sibling codes you're not supposed to ask?"

"Oh, absolutely, but I'll have you know that all the siblings wonder anyways. Humour me."

"He was rather more vanilla than I would have liked and we are never talking about this again. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Have you ever used sex toys, by yourself or with someone? I'm curious to know if they're a part of wizarding society like they are in the muggle world."

"Not that I can remember, but I'd happily try some out. What are some of the types of toys?"

"There's everything under the sun, nowadays. Vibrating toys that stimulate every part of the body, things like rope or straps to hold someone down if you're into that, all sorts of masks and other instruments to deprive someone of their senses."

"Some of those can be achieved with magic if we tried hard enough, "Charlie said, looking intrigued, "but for those that can't be, I'd love to try them. Truth or dare, Mione?"

"Truth, again, if you don't mind."

"Would you be interested in seeing each other after tonight?"

"Yes, I would, Charlie. I think we work well together and it's quite plain to see that we wouldn't run out of conversation easily. That being said, there's still the matter of our jobs, the same problem that plagued you and Tonks. I could never insist on you leaving your life and work in Romania and I don't want to leave England, there's still so many things I'd like to do here. How would that work?"

He reached out to take her hand before answering. "I would never ask you to leave England, but I think we could make a relationship work – exchange letters during the week and see each other on every weekend or two for the time being. You could even teach me how to use a mobile so we could be in more constant contact. Would you be okay with that?"

She almost lit up at the suggestion. "Charlie, that's brilliant! Now I'm the one who forgot to think about muggle alternatives. I'd happily use some of the money I got from my parent's house to come see you. Besides, I've never been to Romania, it'd be so exciting to explore a different country."

"I do have some other news, if you could table your excitement for a moment. The Romanian reserve has recently reached full capacity and with so many dragon eggs and dragons to rehabilitate still coming in, the Romanian, Chinese, Hungarian, and British ministries have been working together to open a new sanctuary. There was a bidding process with a committee that went around to each proposed location to weigh the pros and cons of opening a sanctuary there. And the location in Scotland won the bid – there will be a new sanctuary here, in the UK. And they've asked me to work as head of the new reserve. It will take time to set up, but eventually, I'll be coming home."

She couldn't believe her ears. "How could you not mention something like that, you prat! I'm so, so excited for you, not just because you'll be closer to home. It must be an amazing opportunity and I know you'll be great! We'll have to go and tell your mum in the morning, you know she'll be absolutely thrilled."

"Yeah, it'll be the best bits of news I've given her in years," Charlie said rather bashfully. "We're together and I'm coming home in a few months. She won't stop crying for hours."

"I can't wait." The strength of her hug sent them both sprawling against the arm of the sofa – he was looking up at her with pupils blown wide, happiness written all over his face. "Kiss me, Charlie Weasley."


	3. Chapter 3

"Charlie…"

The sight of him tangled up in her sheets and the memories of what they'd done the night before had her blushing before the day had even begun. There had been many times in her life when she'd wished that she didn't care so much about doing what was expected of her, but none more than right now. It would be brilliant to hole up in her flat pretending that the outside world didn't exist but they owed it to Molly and Arthur to explain what was going on, that, and they had to go back to work tomorrow.

"Charlie, wake up, I've got breakfast started and we're supposed to go see your parents."

"Fuck off, Mione… it's too goddamn early," muttered a vaguely Charlie shaped lump in her direction. She giggled softly to herself, convinced that hating mornings was a Weasley family trait – she couldn't count the number of times she heard Ginny, Ron, and the twins grumbling to themselves and glaring at anyone who looked in their direction during breakfast and morning classes. But that kind of attitude definitely needed to be rectified – leaning over Charlie on the bed she tugged on his shoulder to turn him towards her and gave him a soft kiss. He didn't respond until she increased the pressure and threaded a hand into his hair at which point, he quickly grabbed her arm and toppled her onto the bed next to him.

"Charlie!" she shrieked.

"I'd like a few more minutes with you, if you don't mind. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed close physical contact in the last couple of years and I'm revelling in it." He kissed her again, one hand reaching to hold the back of her neck and she moaned involuntary, pressing closer. Rolling them so that she was on top, his beard scratching her in a way she didn't think she'd like, she pressed herself close again, loving the way that his arms inevitably tightened around her. Charlie wasn't the most vocal of lovers but she had learned that he communicated his pleasure physically – tightening his arms around her, touching her face, sweeping his hands across her back and shoulders… she loved feeling him around her.

"If we don't stop moving soon, I'm not going to be leaving this bed for the foreseeable future. And as much fun as that thought is, we do have work tomorrow and parents to see. Come on, love."

She peered down at him for a moment before a wicked grin crossed her face, "we should take some time off in the foreseeable future so that nothing will be able to tamper with our morning routine." Getting out of bed for the second time she gave him a quick peck on the lips, "there are clean towels in the loo, go hop in the shower. I'll be in the kitchen finishing breakfast, though why I'm bothering is beyond me, your mum will likely try to feed us our weight as soon as we get there."

"Because you're lovely and considerate, thank you. See you in a bit, Hermione." As Charlie walked off towards the loo with a wink, she had to mentally count to ten so as not to go rushing after him and wasting even more time; she had never been a very vain person but she doubted anyone would consider Charlie unattractive. A new appreciation for beards, body hair, and tattoos had manifested, let's just say that.

She hoped he wasn't too fussy about food because toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs were currently all she had on offer, her weekly shopping trip being scheduled for tomorrow and all. Setting down a mug of earl grey on the counter for him and turning back to the pan of bacon she almost jumped out of her skin as Charlie came up behind her for a hug.

"Breakfast looks delicious, Mione, thank you," he murmured in her ear.

"Excelllent, I was worried you would think it were too simple," she said breathing a sigh of relief.

"Hermione, I think you'll quickly find that I'm a fairly simple man," Charlie said laughing. "Someone cooked breakfast for me, and of their own volition no less, the day's turned out superb already."

"Such an optimist, Charles, whatever will we do with you?"

"Personally, I'd vote for 'keep me,' but I might be biased," he responded, blushing. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but you just called me Charles. I don't think anyone's done that since the name was written down at the hospital."

"Oh, I'm really sorry, Charlie. I didn't mean to offend or anything, there's just something about full names that I like. And yours suits you more than anyone I've ever met, I can't exactly imagine calling Ginny Ginevra and getting away with it."

"No, I doubt you would. But you don't need to apologize, I liked it more than I expected to. Feel free to call me Charles if you like."

"Well then, Charles Weasley, let's get a move on. I'm sure your mum's mad enough at us already, time to go smooth the waters a bit." Gulping down the last bit of her tea and watching him do the same she walked over to grab her purse as Charlie reached over to intertwine their fingers and turned on the spot.

Since the apparition point was a ways away from the front door of the Burrow, she spent the time having the same internal struggle as she did on the walk up the day before. "Hey, you do know that mum will be thrilled, right? There's nothing to worry about, Granger," Charlie said, squeezing her hand in solidarity. "Apart from her already planning our wedding, you should definitely be worried about that."

She laughed at his sudden change of tone. "No matter how many times I come here, I still get nervous. I'll walk up to the house and my stupid lizard brain will run a very unhelpful commentary for me about how I don't belong. And then I feel so guilty for thinking of things like that around you and the rest of the Weasleys and I feel even worse. It's a vicious cycle."

"Can I tell you a secret?" he asked quietly.

"Sure, Charlie, you can share however much you're comfortable with."

"I feel like that all the time – like I'm constantly straddling two lives, not really belonging in both. There's life in Romania and then there's family here. When I'm in Romania, no matter how much I'm enjoying what's going on, there's always a part of me that's feeling guilty about what's going on in England, wondering what I'm missing. And when I'm here it's a constant struggle not to sit around and think about all the things I left behind at the reserve. I never fully feel part of both worlds."

She stared at him open mouthed before eagerly replying. "And the guilt and shame just eat you alive because you worry that if the people around knew what you were thinking they'd be so disappointed in you."

"Yeah, exactly. And you can't bear to cause anyone anymore distress. So, you push the feeling down and convince yourself that one day you'll somehow conquer it and everything will be alright again. Charlie held her hand tighter as they turned towards the last stretch of the laneway before the door of the Burrow came into view. "Maybe what's actually going to help is having each other to confide in. It feels good to talk about things with you, I've not been this emotionally close to someone for a couple years and even then, it wasn't this complete a feeling. You understand the intricacies of life here that are hard to explain to someone who wasn't involved."

"I haven't dated much in the years since Ron and I parted because I've never been able to figure out how to convey the various ways in which I struggle to someone who wasn't a part of our lives here. My aversion to black hair, the scars on my arms, how fitfully I sleep sometimes, how much I hate mushrooms and the thought of camping. It didn't seem fair to date someone and just keep all of those parts of myself shut away – it wouldn't have been a real partnership and felt like I was using people for my own comfort. So, I stopped looking and focused on friends but you're right, it lightens the heart to talk about these things with you. I'm glad you took me up on my offer for a drink, Charlie," she said with a shy smile.

"As am I, love. Are you ready?"

"Not remotely, but go ahead and knock. Let's give your mum some news to be happy about."

Arthur opened the door and gave them a stern glare before calling for Molly to join them. "It's good to see you both, you almost gave Molly a heart attack last night, leaving so abruptly. I sense you had a good reason but still, please don't do that again. You know where our minds inevitably go when we don't hear from one of you."

"Charlie, Hermione, where have you been?! How could you just disappear without letting us know, I was worried sick all night!"

They both saw Arthur put a comforting hand on Molly's shoulder before speaking to her in a more calming tone. "Sweetheart, I think they're here to tell us something and I already told them to make sure they let us know where they are next time, so perhaps we could invite them in."

"Oh, very well then. Come through to the kitchen and I'll make some tea. I should say I'm really glad you came by this morning instead of leaving us worrying. But Arthur's right, you obviously came to tell us something so please go ahead."

"Thanks for the tea, mum. First, we wanted to apologize for skipping out last night. It wasn't our intention to make you worry but really, we should have acted more responsibly." Charlie looked over at her and reached for her hand before turning back to his parents with a smile. "We got a bit caught up in catching up and the night got away from us – what we came to tell you was that Hermione and I've agreed to try our hand at a relationship. We wanted you to be the first to know."

"Oh, my babies! I'm so happy for you, I'm sure your father is too. It's lovely to see all of our children find some happiness and we wish you all the best!" She and Charlie got up to accept tremulous hugs from the Weasley matriarch before looking to Arthur to gauge his reaction.

"I am similarly happy for you both. I think you'll do marvellously together and it's nice to see my favourite son nab such a brilliant partner for himself," Arthur said winking at the two of them.

"Favourite son, oh pish posh. Don't you listen to him dears, we love you all very much and Artie shouldn't go around stoking any sibling rivalries with that sort of talk."

Everyone at the table laughed at that before Charlie turned to his mum and said, "mum, we'll all spare you by not mentioning who your favourite child is, eh? Wouldn't do to stoke any rivalries between myself and Bill."

"Charlie Weasley!" Molly blushed scarlet and wagged a finger at him for emphasis. "Neither one of you will remain favourite children for long with that kind of attitude. We should have picked new favourites out years ago."

Charlie turned to her and asked with a wink, "think I should take Bill on as favourite child?"

"Bill? With the lovely wife and your mum's first grandchild on the way? I think you'd lose that match faster than you can say his name," she replied giggling. "You should just give up now and save face."

"You're probably right, Granger, I think I'll stick with you." Sending a cheeky smile her way, he leaned over to kiss her softly on the cheek.

"Mum, Dad, there's something else I wanted to tell you about. I've actually got some really great news – there is going to be a new dragon sanctuary opening in Scotland in several months. And my name has been put forward as head of the reserve." Both she and Charlie grinned to each other as the sound of Molly's crying and excitement filled the room.

"Son, we're really happy that you're coming home, you've been so far away for too long. That being said, won't you miss your life there?"

"I don't think so, Dad. I think its time to start a new chapter of my life, there's not much room for me to grow on that reserve anymore and it'll be nice to have some new professional challenges. Besides, Hermione here's given me new incentives to be closer to home – I can't wait to grow together and spend more time with our various family members."

"In that case, welcome home. We know you'll likely want to keep this information to yourself for a bit so how about you both agree to come to the Burrow for a party at the end of the month to celebrate you coming home?"

She and Charlie looked at each other and quickly nodded. "Thanks Arthur, I think that will work really well for us. It's been lovely to see you so happy and we apologize again for making you worry last night."

"Don't worry too much about it, Hermione. I think you both have just made Molly's entire year, there's not much you can do to fall out of her good graces now," Arthur said chuckling and looking happily at his wife. "I do want to say that while I have every faith that you and Charlie will be happy together and fulfill my wife's dreams of planning another wedding, you will be part of our family no matter what happens. Please don't think that your acceptance here is conditional on being with one of our children. We love you like one of our own and hope to offer you the kind of home that you might need with your parents being far away."

She was up out of her chair and hugging Arthur before she could really register the movement. "Thank you so much, Arthur, I can't begin to tell you how much that means to me. I love it here and you have succeeded beyond your wildest imaginations in making this place feel welcoming to any that come through here. The Burrow and the friendship of everyone in your family has been instrumental in making me feel like I belong in the magical world," she told him through her tears, "and I can't wait to see what the future holds for all of us."

Looking over at his beaming son Arthur said, "how you've ever managed to find someone so lovely to be with I will never know but you're both welcome here anytime. Now go on, I'm sure you have other things to do with your day than sit with us. Enjoy yourselves and we'll see you soon!" As Charlie bounded upstairs to grab his rucksack for the trip home, she exchanged hugs with Molly and Arthur and promising not to be strangers, they took off towards the apparition point once again.

"Told you they'd love you, Hermione."

"Yes, well, it's nice to have it confirmed sometimes. What's up next for today, Charlie? I'm not sure what time your flight is and if you need to do anything specific before your flight. I was hoping to spend the day together but if you're leaving soon that's alright too."

"My flight's at seven, Mione, and I'd love to spend the day with you till then. I promised one of my mates that I'd stop by the shop to pick up some tricks for his kid so if you don't mind, I'd like to stop by there. And we said we would get mobiles so as to better keep in contact while we're apart, that would be nice to get done before I leave."

"Fair enough, let's go!"

As they walked down Diagon Alley towards the Weasley shop she squeezed Charlie's hand a bit, stuck in her own memories. "You know, I always feel guilty coming into the shop and I'm really glad I'm with you today. When were in school I wasn't really supportive of what they were doing and now that Fred is gone, I just hate that most of the memories he had of me were of my being swotty about their plans. The shop they came up with is mind blowing and my initial reaction eats at me sometimes, even though it's fairly small in the grand scheme of things."

"As someone who grew up with the twins, I can tell you that not all of their jokes were nice and well received," Charlie said squeezing her shoulder, "sometimes they could be devilish and not particularly repentant about what they did. Yes, the end result is amazing, but there's nothing wrong with questioning some of their methods. I don't think you would have been intentionally cruel while you were with them at school – what's more important is that you're looking back on your behaviour and trying to make up for any wrongs that you can identify. That tells me that you care for them and more specifically, for others. And that's a fantastic quality in a person, in my opinion."

"How is it that you always know what to say to cheer a girl up, Mr. Weasley?"

"Let's just say I'm particularly invested," he replied laughing. "Come on, the sooner we get in, the sooner we can get through the ribbing we're bound to receive from George." The shop was near full to bursting as they walked in, both kids and adults huddled around all the displays and a queue forming to checkout their purchases. The pygmy puff cage was completely empty, various tufts of purple and pink fur astray, as was the shelf selling food for the little devils.

"What did your mate want for his kid?"

"Said his kid asked for some skiving snackboxes," Charlie replied with a grin, "one of his dormmates at Hogwarts told him about them and now he wants to try one out. Boy, is he in for one nasty surprise when he figures out what they actually are. There's a bet going around those of us at the reserve from England on how many letters from McGonagall he's going to get."

"I would bet quite a few, along with the parents of whichever students he decides to share the sweets with. How many of you are there from England at the reserve?"

"About six, but apart from myself and one guy who's a few years older than you, everyone else is in their 30's or 40's. I got my fair share of ribbing from them when I first joined up because of my age but they let up when I managed to wrangle an ironbelly everyone else had struggled with. Now I'm just part of the group."

"Sounds like a pretty tight knit place, it must be daunting to consider starting over at a new reserve, especially as the boss," she wondered.

"You'd think so but I've always been of the mind that comfort breeds complacency – as much as I love the people I work with, if I didn't take an opportunity like the one presented to me because I would miss them, I'd question if I were on the right career path. Not all of us have had good experiences at other reserves and I want to try my hardest to be a good leader for other keepers at the new one."

"I, for one, think you're going to be brilliant at it," she said, turning to kiss him lightly on the lips. As he pulled her to his side and wrapped an arm around her waist, she heard someone clearing their throat behind them.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? My brother with the exemplary Miss Granger? What'd you do to convince her to spend time with you, eh Charlie?"

"Fuck if I know, I'm just basking in it until she comes to her senses," he responded, shooting a wink in her direction.

"I figured he lived the furthest away so I'd have a plausible excuse to get away from all you degenerates, actually," she answered laughing.

"That is a fair answer. Come along to the back you two, Ange and I want to show you our newest trick." Following George to the back of the shop, she had to keep a strong grip on Charlie's arm so as not to lose him in the madness. "Sorry for the mess back here, it's been absolute chaos all day. Where are the blasted things anyways?" George turned away to shout for Angie into the flat above the shop. "Ronnie and I were getting pissed a few months ago and he told me this fascinating story from your sixth year…"

"Hello, everyone," Angelina called as she skidded to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. "It's lovely to see you both, welcome to our version of madness."

"Ange, where are the new tricks we were going to show Hermione?"

"In the lab, I'll be right back!"

"Right, so Ron and I were getting pissed and he mentioned that in sixth year after a Quidditch victory, you made yellow canaries fly into his face and attack him after he ran off with Lavender. Which, between you and I, was fucking brilliant and well deserved. But it got us thinking about a new sweet we could develop… ah, here we go, thanks Angie! Now, I know you're opposed to us using anyone for testing so I'll be testing it on myself. Ready?" As she and Charlie nodded in agreement, Angelina took hold of a glass of water and dumped a packet of yellow powder into it and giving it a swirl with her wand. George downed it straight away and before their eyes turned into a bright yellow canary – another glass of water and a blue packet this time turned him back into George in an instant. "So, what do you guys think," he asked, grinning at them both.

Both she and Charlie just stared at him dumbfounded. "That was… absolutely brilliant. I can't even imagine how you did that but that fact that you thought of it because of something I did is overwhelming to say the least."

"Aww, Granger, you'll make me tear up here soon. The effect only lasts for about half an hour, we didn't want to cause anyone to miss classes even if they weren't given the antidote and thought too long in the form would give people the wrong idea. We're thinking about starting to sell it in time for the school rush as it should make meals in the great hall much more interesting."

"Brilliant," she replied, Charlie nodding beside her. "Is the powder flavourless so that you could slip it into pretty much anything that will disguise the colour?"

"It is," said Angelina, "we tried to make the powders colourless as well so that you could even mix it with water but that caused way too many complications over which was the trick and which the antidote. That would definitely cause it to get banned, even faster than normal."

"No kidding," breathed Charlie, "are you developing powders that turn into different animals as well?"

"We want to," answered George enthusiastically, "but this one took so many months to develop that we would never finish another in time for school. We figure that the process is very specific to each animal you choose so we're hoping to have four different ones by August next year representing the four houses. That way, they can be used as symbols for quidditch and such."

"You are so in the right business, George Weasley. I'm so proud of you!" She reached forward to engulf him into a hug which he enthusiastically returned.

"And I want to say that whatever ribbing you may endure, I think both Ange and I are really happy for you and Charlie. We can see that even though this is still really new, you both care for each other quite a bit and will take care of each other."

"Thanks, George, I think we could be really happy." Smiling a tremulous smile in Charlie's direction she took his hand in hers and shuffled over to his side.

"Alright you lovebirds, out of my shop. Ange and I have to go help out front – promise you'll stay in touch?"

"Of course, George," they both chorused.

"Should we go grab a bite and hop into muggle London for a mobile?" Charlie asked.

"And after that, back to my flat, to teach you how to use the damn thing," she responded airily.

"Lead the way, my good lady."

Landing in her flat a few hours later, she was immediately swept up into Charlie's arms – "I've had to spend the whole day telling myself that it was uncouth to snog you in public, you'll have to forgive me for accosting you as soon as we've landed."

"Charlie, I've been thinking about the same thing all day. Kiss away." They spent a good half an hour swaying in her living room, arms wrapped around each other, kisses getting progressively deeper before Charlie broke away looking completely dishevelled and pinked lips.

"I need to get going soon and you're still supposed to teach me how to use the mobile, Hermione, I don't want to miss out on that."

She was still trying to clear her head from the sheer pleasure of kissing him, her body practically humming in his arms. "Right… We should do that. We should separate and do that. I'll make tea."

"I know that mobiles work by having a phone number attached to them but I'm afraid that that's the extent of my knowledge. How do we do that thing the salesperson mentioned, texting?"

"Here, hand me your phone, I'll show you. Your phone has a phone number and so does mine, right? You can store my phone number into your phone's memory under my name. And this symbol here that looks like a letter? That's the symbol for texting. So when you press it, this screen here shows up asking who you want to send your message to – you can enter my name and it will send the message to my phone number. You can type whatever you want into the body of the message, we got you a phone with a full keyboard so that will be easier, there's even buttons for punctuations. Obviously you can't type letters this way but it's convenient for sending short messages. You can also send pictures, to do that you just click on the icon that looks like a quintessential camera lens and point your phone at what you want to capture, then press the centre button to take the picture.

"And no one but you can receive these messages?"

"Not unless you type in another number at the top to share it with," she responded.

"Brilliant, thanks Hermione!"

"No problem, Charlie," she answered with a smile. "Are you just apparating to the airport from here?"

"Yes, there's actually an apparition point not far from the main terminal that makes getting there quite easy. I have to say, for the first time in a long time, I don't really want to leave. We're just starting this and it would be so nice to stay holed up in the flat with you and keeping getting to know each other."

"I was just thinking that this morning, actually. But we both know that we'd be miserable if we lost our jobs over something that silly. I think our plan to see each other over weekends is solid and until we see each other again, we have mobiles and letters to keep in touch. I'll be going to bed tonight with memories of our time spent together, that's enough to warm my heart."

"I'll be doing nothing but thinking of our time together. Just know, if I get burnt to a crisp before a fortnight is up because I'm distracted, it'll be entirely your fault."

"Go on with you, I'll see you soon," she said, hugging him close and kissing him a few more times.

"Bye Mione," Charlie said with a wave, smiling at her before he turned on the spot and was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Although she and Charlie had traded a few text messages after he left, she didn't properly hear from him until a beautiful tawny owl arrived at her window on Thursday morning, carrying a small box wrapped in brown paper.

"Well hello, you must be Charlie's then. Let me grab some water for you before you fly off, Romania is a long way." The owl looked at her for a moment before affectionately nipping her finger in thanks. Getting a bowl from the cabinet and filling it with water, she brought it over to the bird and reached out her hand to stroke the owl's feathers as it drank. "You're an affectionate little fellow, aren't you," she said as the owl rubbed its head into her palm, "just like your owner." Finishing up the owl hooted at her in thanks and flew back out the window, hopefully to get itself something to eat. She really needed to be getting ready for work but she knew that if she didn't open the box now, it would be gnawing on her until she came back in the evening and she would not get any work done.

 _Hey Mione,_

 _It occurred to me as I started writing this that I could have just picked up the mobile and called you to hear your lovely voice. You'll have to forgive me, I'm still not used to having technology on hand and it remains a bit of a foreign concept. Besides, I've always found something cathartic about writing letters – getting my thoughts and feelings out on paper is so much easier than having them rattling around in my head for weeks on end. I've spent the last couple of days thinking about what I should write to you, whether it's strange for us to be revealing so much of ourselves so soon after starting this. But the conclusion I've come to is that I simply don't care. We've known each other for years, this isn't two strangers meeting and starting a life together in the span of one weekend; this is two people whose relationship has grown steadily closer over the years who've fallen in together. I was wandering about my little cottage last night and really missing having you around to talk to. And although I'm blushing as I write this, I also miss the sex. I'm supremely biased in this opinion but you're fantastic in bed, Hermione, I can't wait until next time._

 _I told a few mates of mine about us yesterday, I hope you don't mind. They were ribbing me about being distracted and happy and since I am both, I bragged a bit and told them about you – word spread like wildfire, of course, and everyone here is really happy to meet you. Remember those American trainees I mentioned that were causing trouble at the reserve? One of them made some rather rude comments about wanting you to come visit so that they could show you how to be with a real man and while I ignored them at the time, it really stuck with me. What is wrong with men that they have to talk about women and relationships that way? What's worse is that they likely wouldn't leave you satisfied even if you did want to be with them. I wanted to come home to you and focus on making you feel good. Fingers crossed we can do that soon!_

 _I got pulled away from my regular job duties and into meetings about the new reserve today – the two biggest issues being discussed are what breeds of dragons to house there and what protections to put around the encampment. The sanctuary in Romania is so far deep into a forest that some of the protections other sanctuaries use such as far reaching muggle repelling charms and atmospheric charms to mask the smoke clouds and fire shoots aren't really necessary here. I'm scheduled to tour the location the committee has chosen (which I unfortunately can't tell you, I'm sorry!) next week at which point I'm expected to hand in a report with my suggestions for both problems. Between you and I, I'm leaning towards leaving the most volatile breeds at the Romanian reserve, they are much more established and better equipped to handle it. I've also been told that each keeper with over one year of experience at a reserve will be allowed to submit an application to work at the new sanctuary and that I'll be in charge of interviewing them and picking my team. It's a fucking terrifying concept. I've been in charge of work teams in Romania before but nothing of this magnitude, I hope I have the brass to pull it off. Interviews are starting next month, maybe you could help me come up with good questions to ask potential applicants?_

 _I got into a discussion about religion with a few people from the reserve in the lunch hall on Monday and I have to say that I don't understand the concept at all. Magic is so all encompassing that the thought of there being another being who has such direct control on the outcomes of fates is laughable. I can understand that not coming from a magical background can make God seem more plausible but then I struggle with the fact that there are so many different types of religions who all believe in the concept of a higher power. Are all religions correct and there are multiple gods, each with their own version of heaven, or is there simply one god who appears differently to multiple groups? If god is all powerful, why not simply make one religion? An old dormmate told me about how muggles have fought many, many wars around the world and throughout history based on intolerance of religious beliefs. I was well on my way of telling him how ludicrous that was before remembering on what basis the wizarding world fought its war. Seems that humans will find just about any reason to be angry, no matter where they come from._

 _I'd keep writing but my eyes seem to have decided that I'm going to sleep here. I've got an early morning tomorrow as I'm on first shift taking care of some nesting mothers, it's best to be awake and aware for those. I'll be dreaming of you tonight, Miss Granger._

 _Yours,_

 _Charlie_

 _PS. The owl's name is Frank._

 _P.P.S. I hope you enjoy the cookies, it's the least I can do to get you through the week._

He'd make cookies for her, wonderful, buttery shortbread by the looks of them. Gods she missed him. She'd always looked forward to and enjoyed the Weasley dinners he managed to attend and now having experienced what being in his constant company was like, the resulting emptiness felt all encompassing. Still, how could she not be happy for him for being back in the job he loved?

She managed to make it to the office with a few minutes to spare and received quite a few looks in response as she usually showed up at least fifteen minutes early – she figured she could telegraph the reason for her change in schedule as Charlie did with his mates but she realized that she didn't really care for her department to know. Someone would blab to Rita Skeeter and soon it would be splashed all over the pages of the Daily Prophet and she'd never get another minute of peace with Charlie again.

"Hermione Granger, you should be ashamed of yourself," said Ginny, pushing the door to her office door closed behind her, "I had to find out about you and Charlie from mum. From mum!"

"I'm sorry, Ginny, there wasn't exactly a moment for it this weekend, we were a little busy," she replied, blushing furiously.

"Look at you, shagging my brother and enjoying yourself," Ginny replied laughing, "it's about damn time. I've been telling him for months to make a move on you, he's just been too much of a chicken shit – said it had to happen naturally, if it happened at all. And yet, I was right, you two do work well together! Vindication is mine!"

"Ginny Weasley, were you playing match maker again?"

"I'm not even ashamed to admit it, I totally was," her friend said with a smile.

"Well, Charlie and I did enjoy our time together so I really can't be too mad at you."

"I'm glad to hear that, Hermione. You deserve happiness and I knew Charlie's been lonely recently so I'm glad you two can be there for each other."

"How are you and Harry doing?"

"Oh, you know how it is. He still works too much and it's a struggle to get him to be attentive and present even when he is at home. But I know that he's crazy about me and after our big talk a few months ago I can see how much he's trying; I've been similarly trying to be more even tempered and give him space when he needs it," Ginny said with a shake of her head. "A lady stopped me in Diagon Alley the other day and started gushing about how great it must be to be with the boy who lived and I just wanted to slap her, you know? Tell her that it's been a constant struggle to move past everything that happened to us and build a life for ourselves and that people like her make it innumerably worse."

"I wish we could say shit like that in public. But alas, if we did, I think the entire magical community would collectively die of a heart attack. I shudder to think what would happen if any of us ever decided to have children – those kid's egos would be so inflated by the time they went to Hogwarts I'd be shocked to see them fit on the train. Have you considered going on a vacation with Harry, just the two of you? Somewhere warm and with an established communication blackout so that you could really enjoy yourself."

"We've been talking about it," Ginny admitted, "but think it'd have to wait until the Harpies are done their season, there's no way Gwenog would give me the time off until then. I doubt she'd even be willing to bench me if that's what I wanted, my reserve chaser is not ready to play at World Cup level yet and I have every hope that we'll make it this year."

"Fair enough. If you do make it, rest assured that Charlie and I will be there to cheer you on, I doubt he'd be willing to miss an England World Cup game now that's it's being held in France, especially not one that his little sister is playing in. Now this serves as a pre-emptive apology for the following conversation but I will have you know that you are the only person I'd be comfortable talking about this with," she said, trying to gather enough courage to look her friend in the face.

"Hermione, you're starting to scare me, what's going on?"

"I've been really enjoying being with Charlie and wanted to do something for him that I've secretly wanted to do for years. There's this muggle thing that you can do called boudoir, it's where you go to a photography studio where they dress you up in lingerie, do your hair and make-up, and then you participate in a photo shoot. It would cost the equivalent of about 20 galleons and you're left with all of the photos from that shoot that you can keep or give away to people. Now my question, is it too early to give him something like that? We've not been dating for long but we've known each other for years, it's not like he's a stranger I'm sending this stuff too. Is it too much? Would he care that the pictures are stationary?"

"Hermione, relax," Ginny said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "you're starting to ramble. Are you asking me whether my brother, a male in his late twenties, would enjoy receiving sexy photographs of the woman he's started seeing and is likely half in love with already? Do you really need that question answered?"

"Alright, alright, I figure he would like the photos," she responded, blushing again, "I'm more asking if you think it would be appropriate."

"Who cares about appropriate? As long as this is something you want to do and not something he's pressured you into and as long as you trust him not to share the photos with anyone unless asked, I see absolutely no problem with it. In fact, I see an opportunity for Harry and I as well. Would you mind if I joined you? I think it'd be fun, I'd have never even thought of doing something like that."

"I wouldn't mind at all," she said happily, "we could make an evening of it, if you'd like. Why don't you let me call around to a few of the salons and book us an appointment in the next couple of days? We could also invite someone else to come too, maybe Angelina?"

"Sounds grand, I'm sure Harry, Charlie, and George will be thrilled with our decision making," Ginny said with a smile, "alright, I'll leave you to your work and see you in a few days for our photoshoot!"

Shooing the red headed witch out of her office she went to make herself another cup of tea to better focus on the rest of the afternoon.

 _Charlie,_

 _I apologize for taking a few days to respond, I was a bit preoccupied in setting up a small surprise for you that's included with this letter. I was thinking of you and how good it feels when you hold me._

 _I miss you too. I've never really shared my flat with anyone before as I got it after Ron and I had already broken up – I was worried that I wouldn't know how or want to share my space but I'm happy that that's not the case. I'd love to have you here again, and would love to find a home together in the future. Not saying that I think that will be easy, I'm sure we've both developed certain comforts and routines over the years that might not meld well with another person. That being said, I loved the view of you in my bed. I look forward to next time as well!_

 _I don't mind that you told your mates about us, I'd like to meet them as well. Your eyes light up when you talk about your work, it'd be lovely to see you in your element and meet the people who you've made a life with there. I hope you don't mind but I didn't tell anyone in my department about us – I'm not close with anyone there and it seemed a strange thing for me to just start talking about apropos of nothing. Also, I'm constantly wary of the Daily Prophet. I'm not sure how much you know about my relationship with that paper and with Rita Skeeter but it's sufficed to say that I am not a fan and do not enjoy the times when I am mentioned. I wish someone had the money and the desire to takeover the ownership and management of that paper and make it great, but there's not much I can do about that particular dream._

 _Speaking of my department though, there is some news that I'd like to tell you. After many, many meetings between my department and the minister, the decision has been made to go through all the werewolf legislation that has been passed and compile a list of regulations to overturn to make life for all werewolves easier. The initiative is to be named after Remus and the head of my department, John, has asked me to take the lead. I can't believe it! Finally, FINALLY I feel like we're going to be able to make a proper difference in people's lives. I know that Kingsley overturned some of the more egregious legislations soon after the war ended but it's these kinds of initiatives that I feel will affect proper change – initiatives that look through our history with the aim to change laws and regulations that affect oppressed groups. I'm honoured to do work like this but I won't deny that the past two years have been hard, harder than I was expecting them to be. The ministry, like all institutions, is very old and very set in its ways. Kingsley may be minister but the halls of the ministry are still so full of backroom deals and pureblood money and influence that it often times doesn't feel like we fought to change anything at all. There are people all around who didn't join us in the fight, didn't do anything to stand up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves. Rationally I know that they were terrified, unsure of what was happening and who to trust but on an emotional level going there to work every day is taxing._

 _And no, I don't understand why some men treat women and relationships that way. With how much they talk about sexual conquests you'd think they'd be more interested in being nice to women so as to get as many of them interested in sex as possible. Personally, I'd rather have no sex than sex with douchebags but that's just me. Fortunately, I've managed to snag this wonderful guy who is much more interested in my pleasure and I in his than in traditionally accepted gender roles._

 _I've almost never heard of atmospheric charms but I do see why they'd be necessary for a place like a dragon reserve, and no, you wouldn't want any muggles wandering the area especially since some dragons feast on humans. By the way, how do you deal with those when they come to the reserve? I'm assuming you and your co-workers don't volunteer each other in turn to be bait. I wouldn't mind helping you come up with some screening questions – I sometimes wonder how different most workplaces would look if people were hired on how well they fit into the company and the job rather than on who they know or which arbitrary box they fit into._

 _It sounds like you have some interesting discussions on the reserve – I've never understood religion either, even before I learned about magic. Some of my relatives were quite religious and would often try to convince my parents to come to church with them but they and I had similar views to yours. If there are multiple gods then each separate religion cannot really be taken seriously, if there is only one god, then he is letting his own creation kill each other and die in his name defending opposing points of view. It's barbaric to think about but unfortunately the magical world is no better. The same types of people treating each other in the same piss poor way just with different weapons._

 _Again, I hope you enjoy your surprise. Sweet dreams, Charlie Weasley._

 _Yours,_

 _Hermione_

Now all she had to do was wait for a response.


	5. Chapter 5

Bringing Arthur to Heathrow had been a fantastic idea. He was like a kid in a candy store, turning in circles to look closer at the travellers, the guards, the trolleys, and most importantly the planes. He had been overjoyed to accompany her to meet Charlie at the airport and she was happy to be able to bring someone so much joy with so little effort.

"Hermione, where does all the luggage go?" Arthur asked, bewildered. "I can see that the passengers have luggage when they go up to the desk there but then they walk away with all the big pieces of luggage gone, where do they go?"

"I'm not entirely sure what the exact process is but I assume that the luggage is moved to a more central location behind the desk where it is sorted based on it's destination and loaded onto the planes. The people who work at the desk attach a sticker to each piece of luggage that you check-in that states where you are going and the number of the flight you are on. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, thank you! I'm not sure what I was imaging but what you explained makes much more sense. But how do you get your luggage back when you reach your destination?"

Hermione smiled at how intrigued he looked. "Well, when a plane lands at an airport it's guided towards a specific spot to stop at, these spots are each assigned something called a baggage carousel. Once the airport personnel start unloading the plane, they move the luggage from the plane onto a moving belt that is connected with the building and the baggage carousel inside. A baggage carousel is essentially a moving belt in the shape of an oval that allows travellers to come near it and grab their respective pieces."

"Ingenious, these muggles," Arthur said with a smile. "Would you mind if I moved over to the windows to see the planes moving outside? It never stops being fascinating and you mentioned we still had some time before Charlie's flight arrives."

"Of course not, Arthur, please enjoy yourself!" Maybe in that time she could collect her thoughts and figure out how not to blush as soon as she saw Charlie. She was here with Arthur, after all, and in the middle of a public place where some decorum was certainly called for, no matter how much she wanted to whisk him away.

 _Hermione,_

 _I don't know what to say. Whatever surprise I expected it certainly wasn't the one I received and I'm at a loss for a way to thank you. That you would trust me enough to send me something like this (and I know there's an aspect of trust to this surprise, I'm not naïve enough to think that you sent this away without any trepidation or second thoughts) warms my heart and is very validating - I must be doing something right if you were convinced to send me such photos. I'm not usually one for being obscene but I think I lost my head for a few days here and there are so many things I'd like to say and do to you. You look dazzling in both the black and red sets, love, but it's your expression that absolutely kills me. So open and wanting, it's a miracle I've gotten through the week without getting seriously injured. I want to kiss you, touch you, fuck you, have all my senses know nothing but you. I'll be back in England on Friday night and believe me when I say that I'll do my best to show you my gratitude in person._

 _Yours,_

 _Charlie_

She'd kept the letter in her purse for the rest of the week, counting down the hours until she could see Charlie again like a lovesick fool. Both Ginny and Angelina had written to let her know that their surprises were similarly well received and that they'd loved the experience and wanted to go again. They'd both told some friends about it and now they had a whole group who wanted to participate, loving the concept of getting pampered and having fantastic gifts for their significant others in one fell swoop.

Breaking out of her inner ramblings she realized that Charlie's plane was landing momentarily and that they should move towards the arrivals area in time to catch him on his way out. "Arthur, we really should be going to arrivals, we wouldn't want to be late and miss surprising him," she said guiding the man towards the staircase that led towards the lower level and arrivals.

"Quite right, Hermione, is he going to be coming down one of those moving staircases?"

"Could be, let's go check the board and see which area he'll be coming out of."

"Do you mind I try to find the information this time? You gave me the numbers I need to work it out and I'd like to see if I can follow," Arthur asked with a smile, brandishing her little post-it with Charlie's flight information on it.

"Be my guest, Arthur," she replied, laughing. She watched in amusement as he walked up towards the giant arrivals board and moved systematically from one side to the other, glancing down at the post-it to make sure he got the information correct.

"Alright, I think I've understood the information and gotten it correct but I'm not sure," he said with a worried look on his face. "Charlie's plane is landed and he should be coming out of gate D3."

Glancing at the board to double check the information she grinned when she realized that he got it. "Arthur, that's exactly right, well done! Now all we have to do is wait for the plane to unload which normally takes about 15-20 minutes."

"Is that the same unloading that you were talking about earlier, with the bags?"

"Yes, but I also mean that the passengers have to unload which does take a while. See, each plane has assigned seating which means that when the plane lands, passengers get off in a specific order as there is only one door to leave through at the front of the plane. That means that anyone seated at the front of the plane gets to leave first and then whoever was seated behind them and so on."

"Ah, I didn't realize that there was only one door, that makes sense, "he replied, nodding his head. Leaning up against a pillar not far from the gate entrance, they waited until they could see Charlie's unmistakable hair on the escalator and watched as his face split into a grin as he noticed them. Walking over he clapped his father on the back before grabbing her in a hug and lifting her off of her feet in a twirl.

"Merlin, it's good to see you, Granger," he said into her ear, kissing her on the cheek before tightening his arms around her and reluctantly setting her down.

"I've missed you too, Charlie," she said, blushing at the look on his face. Arthur quietly cleared his throat beside them and Charlie let her go before turning to his dad with an apology.

"No need to apologize to me, son, I didn't magically have seven children, I'm well aware of what being in love entails. I just figured you'd like to get to the apparition point so that you two can carry on with your evening."

"Thanks, Dad," Charlie replied laughing and raking a hand through his hair. "The apparition point is this way, hidden in plain sight as it were. I do want to thank you for coming to greet me today, it's a much nicer reception than just arriving by myself."

"Ah, you have Hermione to thank for that, she wanted to surprise you and thought it was a perfect time to bring me along to show me the airport," Arthur replied. "And I enjoyed it immensely, so thank you, my dear."

"No worries, Arthur," she said, "I'm glad you liked it. We'll stop by for tea sometime this weekend, if that's alright?"

"Absolutely, you're both welcome anytime. Now, on with you lovebirds, enjoy your night!"

"The apparition point is just this windowless meeting room?" Hermione wondered, turning to face Charlie after saying goodbye to Arthur.

"What else would it be, love? This is all that's necessary, only people who carry a special license from the ministry can get through the door and none of the muggles see what's going on inside," Charlie responded, stepping closer to her again. "Is it alright if I come home with you? You're all I've thought of for days, I'd like to make good on my promise to show my gratitude, both for the last surprise and this one today."

"There's nowhere I'd rather you be, Charles Weasley." Taking his hand in hers she turned on the spot and landed in her living room again. She'd cleaned up in preparation for his visit, put out some whisky glasses, more blankets on the couch, but those thoughts all flew out of her head as Charlie immediately reached for her and claimed her lips in his. One hand moved to the back of her neck, his favourite spot, and the other curled around her waist as he deepened the kiss. His hand moved to tug on her hair as his mouth left hers to nip at her earlobe and suck a spot right behind it that made her go weak in the knees.

"Can I taste you?" he asked hoarsely, "I want to make you cum so badly."

"As if I'd ever say no to that," she responded, breathless and yearning for him to continue touching her. "Let's go to the bedroom and get comfortable." Though it normally took only a few steps to get to her room, it was a full five minutes before they made it to the bed as Charlie had pushed her up against her hallway wall to snog her senseless, his body pressing into hers.

"I've wanked every night since you sent those damned pictures, Granger," he told her as he took off his shirt at her insistent tugging.

"I've touched myself every night since you sent that letter so I guess we're even," she replied, tugging off her jeans and socks.

Charlie groaned as he picked her up and set her down onto his lap on the side of the bed. "Of course, you did, you're fucking magnificent. I'd love to watch you one day, it'd be an amazing sight."

The position they were in did wonders for Charlie's ability to focus on her neck and chest and she took the opportunity to grind on his lap, feeling his cock harden beneath her. His hands landed on her hips, helping her move back and forth and she moaned as she felt herself soaking through her panties.

"I love feeling your hands on me, Charlie," she told him as they continued to move with each other.

"It's narcotic how strongly you respond to me, I never want to stop touching you," he replied, groaning into her shoulder as she ground down again. Standing up with her legs wrapped around his waist, Charlie grabbed her lips in a searing kiss as he laid her down onto the bed, breaking the kiss only to tug her shirt over her head and take his own jeans off while he got the chance. His erection tented his briefs, pushing on the material and causing a wet to spot appear on the front and she almost salivated at the sight. He'd lick her and then she'd insist on licking him in return, she'd missed doing that the first time around.

Charlie kissed down her body, focusing on her breasts and nipples before moving down and slipping off her soaked panties. "You are so fucking beautiful and I am a lucky, lucky, man," he said before leaning down and spreading her legs. He started slowly, savouring the taste of her before pushing her legs further open and tonguing her as deep as he could – she was coming in mere minutes, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Before she'd truly had time to recover, Charlie had moved closer again and inserted one finger into her as she was still quivering.

"You know, I have this funny feeling that you're one of those lovely women who can orgasm multiple times in one session. And since making you cum is my new favourite hobby, I figured we'd give it a shot. What do you think?"

He inserted a second finger as she was trying to respond and she ended up gasping out her words. "Whatever you want, just keep going, please. Please!" She bucked to try to get his fingers in deeper but he threw his other arm across her torso, pinning her to the bed. He inserted a third finger slowly before increasing his pace with measured strokes. She's pretty sure she screamed as she came, squirting for the first time in her life, body practically humming from being so oversensitive. "You… you can feel free to do that anytime," she said, breathing heavily.

"I promise I will, that was the sexiest thing I've seen in recent memory. I don't even mind my arm and chest getting soaked," he said, looking at her with wide eyes, a grin tugging his lips.

"Can I lick you now? I missed out last time and I really like doing it."

"Are you kidding? Yeah, I'd totally be up for that."

She asked him to switch places with her on the bed, giving his lips a quick kiss as they rearranged themselves. He groaned the moment she put her hand and mouth around him, threading his hands into her hair. She looked up to watch him eagerly watching her - moving her head to the side she kissed and licked her way down both sides of his cock, gripping him at the base the whole time before taking him in fully and feeling him hit the back of her throat.

"Fuuck… Hermione," Charlie said, eyes closing and head falling back. "Did not think you'd be doing that, you absolute godsend."

She moved up and down a few more times before he gently eased her off, "if you keep doing that I'm going to cum and I'd still like to fuck you tonight. Pick the position, love, I just want to feel you."

"On all fours, Charlie, I want you to grab my hips and fuck me as hard as you can," she said, arranging herself on the sheets.

"Perfect, I love looking at your back and arse," he replied, stroking her back and pushing into her to accentuate his point. He quickly grabbed her hair to pull her front half off the bed, and reached forward to tweak her nipples as he slammed into her with increasing intensity. The resulting orgasm left her shaking from aftershocks, grateful that he wrapped her into his arms and lay down in bed to recover.

"That was a pretty fantastic thank you," she said breathing a laugh.

"It was," he replied, kissing the top of her head, "and you deserved every bit of it. I missed you. It's great to be able to touch you again and show my affection through more than just letters."

"Surprising you works really well for me, I think I'll have to keep up the habit."

"Merlin help me, in that case. You'll have killed me either from exertion or heart attack before I actually turn 30," he responded, laughing.

"Any plans for your birthday, old man?" She asked, turning to snuggle closer into him. "The big one is next year, is it not?"

"Not sure yet, I'm hoping you and I could go somewhere special. I'm sure mum has an appropriately big extravaganza planned but a vacation somewhere nice would be lovely," he said, threading their fingers together.

"Still want me around a year later?"

"Of course, Hermione," Charlie said, looking at her seriously. "As new as this is, it's not a fling for me. Besides, the sex is too good to give up."

She laughed and swatted him on the arm with her free hand. "Too true, I'm not too keen to go back to the previous state of things either. Come on, Romeo, we should get in the shower and get dinner going."

She decided a few minutes later that languid kisses with the shower beating down on them were her new favourite, as was the sight of Charlie dripping wet. Changing into some leggings and a big sweater she followed Charlie to the kitchen to get started on the chicken tikka masala she'd bought ingredients for after work.

"I'm sorry I didn't respond to your entire, letter, by the way, I was a little preoccupied at the time. I wanted to say that I understand why you're simultaneously excited and upset to work on such a big project for the ministry. Realizing that your experiences may differ greatly from other people's experiences requires a lot of strength and is not an easy thing to do. The majority of the population were not at school under the reign of Dolores Umbridge, weren't present during Harry's struggles during the Triwizard tournament – their only knowledge of the situation was from warring newspapers trying to discredit the word of a 15-year-old kid who swore that the darkest wizard of all time had returned. Being on the outside must also have been hard."

"I know that, Charlie. That's the only reasonable conclusion to come to but sometimes when I think back on everything we went through it's hard not to be upset," she said, smiling sadly.

"Understandably so, love," Charlie replied, hugging her from behind. "One of my biggest problems during the war and even after it was the way the Order was run. Rationally I understand that everyone was worried about secrecy and safety but the way Dumbledore carried on was ridiculous. How many situations do you think could have been improved had more people just been able to help? Dumbledore strongly suspected that Voldemort was using Harry through their connection, right? Wouldn't it have been great to have that explained, to anyone, to have Harry understand what the prophecy was and why it was imperative he not go after it? What good did leaving the poor kid in the dark do apart from cause him more pain?"

"I'm not sure," she said shaking her head. "There are many things I'm angry about – sometimes I think that Dumbledore must have considered all these solutions and just figured that his way was still better while at other times I just know that he could have done things differently. Why leave Harry alone for 11 years with no interaction with the magical world, what good did that do? Of course, everyone was initially worried that Voldemort would come back but after it became apparent that he wasn't, why not get to know the child? Maintain some contact, check on him to make sure he was doing okay. But no, the best option was surely to leave him in the hands of unknown muggle relatives with only a card instructing them to take care of him. Absolute rubbish. And here's another, why did no one insist that Sirius get a trail? Forget a fair trial, just any trial at all would have done the job. There are multiple ways to magically be able to tell if someone is telling the truth, why were none of them used? Veritaserum, Priori Incantatem, even extracting his goddamn memories and viewing those. It's so hard to work on making the world a better place and spouting all of these ideals when some of the people I'm most angry at are the ones that were on our side."

"I think the only way to move forward is to just accept that the people we knew and know are flawed and that we're all trying our best," Charlie replied quietly. "If you were able to, what would be some of the things you'd change?"

"I think I'd start at Hogwarts, try to abolish the house rivalries that I believe help perpetuate some of this violence. Try to start more interhouse activities, more ways for students to interact. I also think some of the curriculums need to change, or at least be updated. And a much stronger vetting for teachers, that much is for certain."

"Hermione, I've just had a thought," he said, looking over at her, face full of excitement. "What if you were to create your own department within the ministry? One whose sole purpose was to liaison with various institutions such as Hogwarts, St. Mungo's, and other ministry departments and assist them with changing and updating their policies and procedures? I'm sure that if you were to show Kingsley such a proposal he'd be completely on board – your current project regarding werewolf legislation could fall under that department's purview. That way you could spend your days researching these policies and do your best to enact real change as well as achieving a level of distance from day to day ministry that I think you'd enjoy. Part of your proposal could assure Kingsley that each of your projects would include extensive research and collaborations with any respected experts that you could find. He'd have final sway over your decisions, of course."

"The idea of being an auditor of sorts is certainly tempting but do you honestly think Kingsley would go for something like that? I think it would make him a bit of a political pariah, to appoint someone to oversee basically everyone, it would put a lot of people on edge."

"I'm not saying you'd have free reign on what you'd like to look into, I think it would require a vetting process of sorts, you'd have to put together proposals of things you'd like to work on that could be voted on by Kingsley and a specially appointed committee. You'd also need to arrange some good press, but yes, I think it's doable."

"Do you really think I could do that, Charlie? That would be a dream job, to say the least, but I'm not sure I could pull it off," she said, suddenly feeling very nervous.

"I think you could pull it off, Hermione," Charlie said, turning her around to cup her face in his hands. "If you'd like to, give it some serious thought and see what you could come up with. Hell, you could see if Percy'd be willing to join you, he lives for policy and procedure."

"Alright, I will. Thank you, Charlie. You've been so attentive to my work and career, I feel I should thank you," she said, kissing his cheek as she plated their plates for dinner.

"How could I not be? We're partners, yeah?"

"Yeah," she responded with a smile, "we are. So, have you visited the secret site yet?"

"Just yesterday, actually," he said, nodding along. "It was amazing, Hermione, absolutely amazing. To actually go there, knowing that this is where I'm going to be building something new was unreal. I've submitted my report and suggested that the more dangerous breeds be held in Romania and the new reserve take on five different breeds to start, the Norwegian ridgeback, Hebridean black, Swedish shortsnout, Antipodean opaleye, and Welsh green. I would tell you about the atmospheric charms but that would be a dead giveaway on the location and so I can't yet."

"Do you know when you'll be able to talk about it?"

"Yeah, I spoke to the organizing committee and they agreed that I could tell family at mum's party next weekend. The official announcement will be made in the week following with interviews starting the week after that."

"Would you still like help coming up with interview questions?"

"Yes! Definitely, yes," Charlie said, nodding. "None of my job duties and experience have revolved around human resources before, it's what I'm most worried about. What would you look for in a candidate for a job like this?"

"Well, I'm not too sure about the dragon keeping experience side of things, but from what you've told me about your work, I would suggest you keep away from applicants like those two Americans who have something to prove. Look for people who are there because they love the dragons, and not because they're looking for a risky and cool career. I'd start by asking why they applied for a position at the new reserve, that's usually a good way to suss that out."

"Okay, that's a good start. Another problem I have is that some keepers from the Romanian reserve are bound to apply – I don't think I'd make a good boss if I just filled the positions with my friends but how am I supposed to tell them no at the same time? We already work well together, that would be helpful on a new reserve."

"Good point," she responded, thinking. "You could talk to your boss and the head of your current reserve. Tell them that you're worried about picking friends for positions at the new reserve and ask their honest opinions on who would be the best choice to move forward. That way, not only is there input from their actual boss, but you have back-up in the face of any blowback from other applicants or the organizing committee."

"Fantastic, Hermione," he told her, smiling, "I'm so glad I asked you."

"I'm happy to help, Charlie!"

"I did have another question for you," Charlie asked, hesitatingly sweet. "The weekend following mum's party, would you like to join me in Romania for a few days? I'd love to show you around the reserve, show you my home, the country I've grown to like quite a bit."

"Charlie, you don't have to be nervous, I'd love to join you in Romania."

"Brilliant," he said, reaching over the table to kiss her soundly. "Now, why not a movie as a way to spend our evening? I've noticed your tv and movie collection, I'd love to see your favourite."

"It's a film called Reservoir Dogs, you sure you're ready for this Weasley?"

"Let's do it, Granger," Charlie said, kissing her again.


	6. Chapter 6

"Percy, would you mind if we talked for a moment?" The party that Molly had promised to throw in honour of Charlie coming was in full swing in the Burrow's backyard – while she could approach Percy at work or simply send him an owl, talking to him at the Burrow was much more comfortable, hopefully for both of them.

"Of course not, Hermione. Why don't we go into the house seeing as most everyone is congregated out here?" Walking towards the back door of the Burrow, she watched as Percy stopped by his girlfriend's side to let her know where he'd be as she sent Charlie a wink before nodding her head towards the house.

"How have you been, Percy?" She asked, trying to find an easy way into the conversation.

"Doing well, Hermione, thank you," he said before gently continuing, "though I suggest you get what you'd like to say off of your chest, I can see how nervous you are. I'm sure that whatever it is, you and I can talk about it like adults."

"Fair enough," she replied, huffing a laugh. "When Charlie was over at mine last weekend, he brought up an interesting idea that I wanted to talk over with you. We'd been talking about ways in which we'd still like to see our world improve and he suggested that you and I form a new department within the ministry, one which solely deals with revising policy and procedures found in other ministry departments and institutions within the magical community."

"It wouldn't be too far off from what our current jobs entail," Percy mused, eyebrows drawn together in thought, "something similar to a muggle auditor, if I'm understanding correctly."

"Exactly," she exclaimed, glad to know that the main concept had come across correctly. "We'd form a separate department that answered directly to Kingsley and whoever else he thought necessary."

"Although I do think there's a lot of good we could accomplish with such an idea, I have to say I doubt that the ministry, and the wizengamot by extension, would look favourably on two fairly young people being given free reign to look over and change any policy they see fit."

"No, of course not," she agreed with a nod of her head. "Charlie and I thought that a solution for that would be for us to come up with proposals for things we'd like to look into and run them by Kingsley before we start our work. But if you have any other suggestions, please let me know!"

"Proposals could work…" muttered Percy under his breath. "But there's still the Umbridge problem to think about, Hermione, a problem that I helped create."

"Sorry, the Umbridge problem?"

"The last time the Ministry started looking into things and changing policies, Umbridge got planted at Hogwarts and the result was fairly horrific. I doubt anyone will take well to the Ministry stirring the status quo, however much we would really love to change this world for the better. And I doubt anyone would be interested in hearing my name attached to the project."

"I understand where you're coming from, Percy, but these policy changes have to come from somewhere. You know as well as I do that it's often hard for people to see the big picture from inside their own departments as they get sidetracked with the day to day errands. Stirring the status quo may not work out favourably for us but if we don't do it, we're leaving conditions ripe for someone else to come along and start inciting tensions again. And you are the only person I can imagine undertaking this with, you understand first hand how distorted ministry views can get - this project will take hours upon hours of work, and I am confident that you will not turn away at the first hiccup."

"I…" Percy lowered his head for a moment, swiping underneath his eye before looking back at her. "I wasn't expecting such a vote of confidence, Hermione, but I do thank you. I'd be honoured to work on such a proposal with you."

She couldn't help beaming at him and reaching over for a hug. "Oh Percy, that's wonderful! I'm so glad to hear that, I was worried you'd think we were completely off the mark."

"Oh no, nothing like that. Completely barmy, maybe, but not off the mark," he replied, laughing along with her. "I do have some ideas, if you'd like to sit down."

"Please, please. What do you suggest we do to combat the Umbridge problem?"

"Well, I think the press will be the biggest issue. You know how much of a problem Rita Skeeter is and since she's still at the Daily Prophet, we really have to be careful as to what we do. My suggestion would be to lean heavily on Luna and her father at the Quibbler, scoop the Daily Prophet on a huge story, as it were," Percy told her, fixing his glasses as they threatened to fall down his face. "With how nervous everyone is bound to be about the ministry extending its influence, I think we ought to encourage Luna to print each and every proposal we put before Kingsley, in their entirety. That way no one can come to us or Kingsley complaining that they didn't know what we were up to, and it will be harder for Skeeter to print any outright lies. We could have her interview the both of us, as well as the minister and anyone else he puts in charge, on why our entire initiative is necessary to forward our society."

"I thought much the same," she stated. "I'm sure you know how important fair werewolf legislation is to me so I was hoping that we could make that our first proposal, seeing as Kingsley has already asked me to work on the topic."

"I agree, it would make for a natural segway," Percy told her, gesturing with his hands as he got more excited. "When we pitch the project to Kingsley, we should have the full proposal on werewolf legislation prepared but also present him with options for what else we'd like to work on, to show him that we have thought this through."

"How would you like to meet at some point this week to work out more details? I think we could put this together and present to Kingsley in the next few weeks."

"I think I'm free Wednesday afternoon, but I'll owl you tonight after I make sure with Audrey," he responded, smiling brightly at her. "I'm very excited to start working with you, Hermione, closer than we have been, at least. With Kingsley's help I think that we can achieve a lot of good with this idea."

"I hope so, Percy, I really do," she said, a bit wistfully. "Credit has to go to Charlie for coming up with it – although being handed the project to look over werewolf legislation soothed some of my worries about not being able to do more to affect real change at the ministry, I still felt that more could be done. Should this department be approved, I think it will be the way forward with tackling some of the remaining issues in our society."

"I'm ashamed to say that I don't know Charlie all that well anymore – from what I see of your interactions I can see that you are well matched to each other and his willingness to help you better the world we live in goes to show that he's grown into a good man. If you two don't mind, I look forward to getting to know you both better."

She knew that Percy would live with the guilt of not being around to help his family during the war for the rest of his life, similarly to the guilt Charlie lived with of being away in Romania for the majority of his younger sibling's lives. "Percy, I think you'll find that you're not the only one who feels separated from the family – both Charlie and I agree that we've not put in as much effort as we could have into getting to know everyone, yourself and Audrey included. I think I speak for both Charlie and I when I say that we'd love to get to know you better."

"Who are you getting to know better, love?" Charlie asked, walking into the sitting room as she and Percy were talking.

"Percy and Audrey. We were just talking about how we really don't know each other very well and resolving to change that. I hope you don't mind that I've committed both of us to the endeavour," she asked, turning to give Charlie a smile as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Of course not, love. Percy, we didn't really know each other way before you went off to the ministry and the majority of the blame for that rests on my shoulders. I was always off with Bill when we were younger and the twins were born as practically the same person leaving you the odd man out, I can't imagine that was a fun life to lead. I could have made more of an effort then and didn't and so can hardly resent you now for your own mistakes. I very much look forward to getting to know both you and Audrey better." Holding out his hand for Percy to shake he asked, "brothers?"

"Always," Percy responded, taking his hand. "I don't know what to say to you both other than thank you."

"No need to thank us, Percy," she said, reaching over to hug him again. "Now, we should probably rejoin the party, before we get accosted by the rest of the family and interrogated on what we were talking about."

"Too true," both Charlie and Percy agreed laughing, "and we should probably keep this between us. Lead the way!"

Walking back towards the Burrow garden she noted where everyone seemed to be congregated and dragged Charlie by the hand towards them to explain what was really going on. Molly had been kind of to let them explain but she could see that the woman was getting more and more excited as the party wore on.

"If we could get your attention for a minute, please!" she cried to alert all the kids and outliers in the back garden. "While it's lovely that you all gathered for the single purpose of celebrating that Charlie and I are together, we do actually have another reason for this party," she said, stepping aside to let Charlie take centre stage.

"Mum threw this party because in the next few months, I'm going to be coming home. Several of the ministries of countries that house dragon reserves have been working together to figure out how to deal with their overcapacity problem with the solution being the creation of a new dragon reserve. A location in Scotland has been selected and yours truly will be heading up the new sanctuary. So, whether you want to or not, you'll be seeing much more of me," Charlie said, clapping his hands to ease the tension, "and I am still just as bad at public speaking as I've always been. We're done here!"

Ginny was the first to rush up to him with a hug, followed by Molly, almost in tears even though they told her weeks ago already. Charlie received claps on the back from everyone in the family before being interrogated on what the new sanctuary entailed. She stepped away to give them some room, smiling to herself before picking up some of the empty plates and carrying them to the kitchen. Turning around to go back towards the garden she ran straight into Bill, throwing them both back into the doorframe before he reached out an arm to catch her as she fell.

"Merlin, Bill, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there at all, I hope you're not hurt," she replied, taking a step back and smoothing her dress.

"This one's on me, Hermione, I really should have announced myself. I came in to talk to you about Charlie, actually."

"Oh? Is something wrong?"

"No, no, nothing like that. I just wanted to thank you for making Charlie happy. He wrote me the longest letter I've ever received a few weeks ago, raving about you and talking about how happy he was - he's my best mate, you know, and it's nice to see you two together. You and he have a standing invitation to Shell Cottage, maybe we could do dinner next time he's in town. After you two are done shagging your brains out, that is," Bill said, grinning at her obvious blush.

"Oh please, I'm sure Charlie had to hear all about you and Fleur's courtship, you have no leg to stand on!"

"Only too true, Hermione, I thought he was going to come home and wring my neck at one point," he told her, laughing at the memory. "I won't tease you too much about it."

"He raved about me?" She thought things had been going well, but the nerves of her youth were never far from her mind - knowing that Charlie had written Bill a long letter about how happy she made him certainly helped ease the strain.

"Course he did, he's head over heels for you, Granger," he told her, smiling in the direction of the backyard. "Don't tell him I said that, he'd knock me down for telling you about that letter. And between you and I, I've gotten a bit soft since getting married."

"Your secret's safe with me, Bill," she said, leaning in with a smirk. "Did you guys fight a lot when you were younger?"

"Oh yeah, there's nothing at the Weasley household that wasn't solved with a good scrap. I used to be able to keep up with Charlie, but after he was on the reserve for a few years, he could take us all to school. Though now that he's going to be management, he might actually slow down a bit."

"Well, I'm not going to be complaining about Charlie's physique any time soon," she said, giving Bill a cheeky grin.

"Yes, yes, my brother is good looking, we all know this," Bill replied, jostling with her as they both tried to move through the door at the same time. "Alright, big brother talk is all done. Take care of him, and come over for dinner."

"Will do, Bill, thanks for everything," she called over her shoulder as she approached Charlie talking to Gin and Harry.

"Did you just get the big brother talk, Mione?" Harry asked as she joined them.

"Indeed I did, though I think Bill did something wrong because it was actually quite pleasant," she said with a smile.

"Mine fucking wasn't," Harry responded with a shudder, "I will never forget that moment, it comes up in my nightmares sometimes – Old Voldy and Bill, terrifying me until the end of time."

"You must be joking," Ginny responded, staring at Harry with a shocked look on her face. "Bill's one of the nicest people around!"

"Once you get to know him, sure!" Harry told her with emphasis. "To everyone who is trying to date his litter sister, he's a fucking curse breaker with an immense amount of field experience who fought Greyback and probably knows hundreds of ways to hurt someone if he wanted to."

"I love that Harry is scared of Bill," Hermione said as an aside to Charlie, grabbing his hand in hers.

"I should probably let him know sometime that I asked Bill to go twice as hard on account of my not being there," Charlie whispered in her ear.

"Nah, let him suffer. He needs a little fear in his life still, most people just bend over backwards when they see him these days."

"Did Bill really give you the older brother talk, Hermione?"

"Somewhat. Mostly he just told me that he's happy for us and that we're invited over for dinner in the next few weeks," she said. "Does it bother you that he did?"

"No," Charlie replied hugging her to him, "I actually think it's rather sweet. He's the only older brother I've got and even though we're fucking old, it's nice to know that he still wanted a moment with you."

"Wait a minute," Harry said, turning back to both of them, "who gave Bill a talking to when he was getting married?"

"Dad, obviously," Ginny responded. "Neither of you have ever seen Dad properly serious but it's a sight to see. He took Bill over to his shed and when they came out Bill was more whitefaced than I've ever seen him."

"Wish I could have seen that, "Charlie said, laughing. "Alright, you various degenerates, I've only got a couple of hours left with the lovely Miss Granger here and there are other things I'd rather be doing. I'll see you next time I'm in town and please remember not to tell anyone about the new sanctuary until you see the official announcement next week."

"Fair enough, I'm surprised you both stayed this long," Ginny said, reaching over to hug them both. Don't forget to see mum or she'll skin you both."

Landing in her living room like always, she was immediately swept into Charlie's arms and properly snogged. "Fuck, that never gets old," he told her when they separated a bit later. "Come on, let's get a drink. I need to leave soon and I'd still like to take some time to talk with you."

"What about?" she asked, accepting a glass of Macallan from him and sitting down on the couch.

"About anything, really. Talking to you is always the best part of my day. What's something I don't know about you?"

"In sixth year at Quidditch tryouts, I used the confundus charm on Cormac McLaggen so that he failed his last catch and Harry picked Ron for keeper instead of him.

"Did you really?" he replied smiling. "That is definitely one tidbit I haven't heard. I should spread it around, I can imagine Skeeter would pay good money to learn that about you."

"Not even as a joke, Charles," she said shuddering, "that woman is absolutely awful. I know I should regret what I did but to this day I most certainly do not. Cormac McLaggen, the handsy bastard, can go fuck himself. What about you? Any juicy tidbits about your life?"

"Oh, I'm sure there's much more about me that you don't know. But I'm more interested in your hatred of McLaggen at the moment, Granger," Charlie said, concern clouding his features.

"No need to worry, Charlie, the guy was just an idiot. Wanted to get into my pants and had a bit of a mouth on him," she replied, eyes rolling at the memory of the man. "I was so invested in getting Ron to notice me that when he was an asshole about Slughorn's party, I invited McLaggen to make him jealous. I'm not proud of most of my sixth year but that one takes the cake for me. Naturally, he got the idea that I was interested in him and tried to get a bit handsy at the party, I spent most of it and the rest of the year avoiding him."

"Fantastic situation you created for yourself, Hermione, though if we ever do meet him again, I would like to give him a slap for getting handsy. Now let's see here, something about me… first night on the reserve I got fired and rehired within the span of 30 minutes."

"You must be joking, how on earth did that happen?"

"My first night there, a Chinese fireball got spooked by something and started a bit of a rampage, thrashing her entire area and causing an emergency on the reserve. I defied my handler's direct orders to stay in my hut and joined in the fray, flying straight at the dragon to try to distract her. It worked for a few minutes so I landed and started throwing stunners with the rest of the keepers. Handler came over and fired me on the spot, told me that if I couldn't follow orders, I had no place on the team. Right after that the fireball managed to snag one of the keepers with her tail, throwing the bloke about twenty feet up into the air. The rest of the team obviously got distracted trying to levitate the guy back to the ground so I took the chance and ran towards her, catching her around the snout and wrangling her to the ground so that I could send a stunner to the underside of her neck, one of the only places that it usually takes. After we got her back under control, my handler came back and re-hired me, saying that I'm the craziest and most talented fucker he'd seen in years. His exact words, actually."

"My god, Charlie, that's like something out of an adventure novel. Have you pulled any stunts like that since then?"

"I like to believe that I've grown up since then, but every once in a while, a move like that is still necessary. Dragons are unpredictable creatures and rules and regulations can only take you so far. What's necessary is to make sure that your keepers are as knowledgeable as can be so that the risks they take have lower consequences. That's the aim in the new place, at least. A team of well trained but still daring keepers."

"I can only imagine. You at work must be a sight to see, Charles Weasley," she said, leaning over to kiss him.

"It's been helpful a few times, I must admit," he replied in between kisses. "I'm really looking forward to having you visit Romania – there's not many people that have shared both sides of my life and I can't wait to introduce you to my mates, both the co-workers and the dragons."

"I'm looking forward to it as well, my only experience with dragons so far has been that event at Gringotts – it would be nice to be introduced to the creatures in a safer environment without the threat of imminent death and torture on my shoulders. Only one more week to go!"

"Well, I pledge to do my best to give you a much better experience," Charlie told her, getting up to give her an immense hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I've got to run to catch my flight but I'll see you soon. Text me your flight details and I'll be at the airport to pick you up."

"See you soon, Charlie."


End file.
